Water Availability

The U.S. Geological Survey StreamStats program can be used to estimate the magnitude of various annual exceedance probability floods such as the 50-year or 100-year floods at locations where no streamgage data are available. In eastern Colorado where few streamgages exist, the regional-flood equations used in StreamStats have large uncertainties. In order to reduce these uncertainties, the U.S...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, evaluated the predictive uncertainty of mean-monthly streamflow-regression equations representative of natural streamflow conditions in Colorado. This study evaluates the predictive uncertainty of mean-monthly streamflow-regression equations developed in a 2009 U.S. Geological Survey study using streamflow data...

Elbert County, Colorado relies heavily on nonrenewable groundwater from the Denver Basin aquifers for water supply. Population growth in the county has placed increasing demands on groundwater resources, and future groundwater withdrawals are expected to increase as the population continues to grow. A detailed program to monitor groundwater levels in the Denver Basin aquifers throughout the county...

The South Platte River and underlying alluvial aquifer form an important hydrologic resource in northeastern Colorado that provides water to population centers along the Front Range and to agricultural communities across the rural plains. Water is regulated based on seniority of water rights and delivered using a network of administration structures that includes ditches, reservoirs, wells...

The Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin (LCDGWB) is an important alluvial aquifer for water supply in northeastern Colorado. Increased demand for withdrawals from the LCDGWB has led to a concern about the long-term sustainability of the basin’s ground-water resources. A numerical ground-water flow model developed using an early version of MODFLOW exists for the LCDGWB. A review and update of...

Population increases in the Upper Arkansas Headwaters Region, which includes Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, and Lake Counties, Colorado, are forecast to increase about 75 percent by 2030. An annual deficit gap between supply and demand of about 5,950 acre-feet is anticipated. Groundwater in the area is tributary to the Arkansas River but the effects of additional groundwater use are poorly defined by...

Reports indicate that groundwater levels are rising in parts of the South Platte alluvial aquifer. The Colorado Division of Water Resources and the Colorado Water Conservation Board are establishing a groundwater-level monitoring network in the South Platte basin. The USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) monitoring wells are uniquely located so as to be included in the proposed...

The conversion of agricultural land to urban residential land is associated with rapid population growth in the Grand Valley of western Colorado. Information regarding the effects of this land-use conversion on deep percolation, irrigation-water application, and associated salt loading to the Colorado River is needed to support water-resource planning and conservation efforts.

More than 70 percent of the municipal water supply in the south Denver metropolitan area is provided by groundwater, and homeowners in rural areas depend solely on self-supplied groundwater for water supply. Increased groundwater withdrawal to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population is causing water levels to decline. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Rural Water...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, created a Web-based geodatabase for information on floods from 1867 through water year 2015 and information on paleofloods occurring in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years. The geodatabase was created using Environmental Systems Research Institute ArcGIS JavaScript Application Programing Interface. Engineers...

Fountain Creek is a high-gradient stream on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The headwaters of Fountain Creek drain Pikes Peak, a major destination for tourism. Fountain Creek is a drinking-water source for the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is used for irrigation, recreation, and other purposes between Colorado Springs and the confluence with the Arkansas River at...

Snow is an essential resource in the western United States (U.S.), providing water for drinking, irrigation, industry, energy production, and ecosystems across much of the region. In the mountains of the western U.S., most precipitation falls as snow, which accumulates in seasonal snowpacks that serve as a large natural reservoir. Snowpack sublimation, which is analogous to evaporation from land...